The competition started after the Fukushima nuclear power disaster in Japan, which leaked radioactivity.

Dr Gill Pratt, manager of the Robots Challenge Trials said: "During the first 24 hours [at Fukushima], if only human beings had been able to go into the reactor buildings... the explosions might have been prevented and the disaster would not have been so severe."

Robots could also be sent on Star Trek-like journeys. Niklaus Radford, project leader at the Dexterous Robotics Laboratory at Nasa's Johnson Space Centre in Texas, said in a Times report: "Nasa will send robots ahead of astronauts. These... will start preparing the way for human explorers and, when the humans arrive, they'll work together."

Take a look at Valkyrie the super robot which is giving the boys a run for their money